


Choices, Big and Small

by acoletterose



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Competition, F/M, Gen, Genophage, Learning to Drive, Mako - Freeform, Mild Language, Pre-Relationship, Sole Survivor (Mass Effect), Space Exploration, Space Marines, Thresher Maws (Mass Effect), Virmire (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 03:56:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14803893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acoletterose/pseuds/acoletterose
Summary: AU dealing with the choice on Virmire. It’s  one of the best, gut wrenching choices in the game. So ima try my hand at ruining it.





	1. Who’s Driving?

**Author's Note:**

> Still working on the title, editing/WIP

It was time for rounds again. It’s important for Shepard to make sure she was addressing all of her crew member’s needs. Also, she liked talking to her non-human members. She was starting to think of them as friends, as a team, probably because they didn’t have the same formalized lines of communication that her Alliance crew had. She secretly hopes that Pressly and Williams come around to them.

Stepping off the elevator, she can see that Garrus is continuing with his perpetual tweaking of the Mako. She starts heading to speak with Wrex when Garrus drops a wrench with a heavy thunk and a sigh. _Better head that off_ , she thinks, and changes course to speak with him first.

“Garrus.”

“Commander Shepard. I’ve been working on the Mako. _Again_. Is there any way I could convince you to ... not damage the struts on every survey deployment?”

 _Oh hoh. Frustrated. I can deal with that_. “You want to drive Vakarian? Think you can do better? Well, you’re in luck. I was just about to call a deployment. You’re up.”

Shepard isn’t quite as skilled in interpreting Turian body language as she wishes ( _yet_ ) but she’s pretty sure the look on his face is chagrin. Or maybe concern.

Without turning, Shepard calls out: “Williams! They teach you to drive a Mako on Titan?"

She doesn’t even look up, keeps cleaning her rifle. “You know they did, Skipper. Me and most of your crew know.”

“Hmph. Wrex?”

“Shepard?”

“You want to learn to handle the Mako too?”

“I just ate, Shepard.”

“Well that settles it then.” Shepard walks over to the comm by the elevator and pounds it. “JOKER. Tell Liara to suit up. We deploy in 50.” She presses the elevator call and turns back to the still concerned looking Garrus. “Lucky for you, Eletania’s got lots of lovely mountains for you to practice on, Vakarian. Make sure she's ready in time.” She gives him an evil grin as the doors close.

* * *

After going over the basics with Shepard, it only takes a few minutes for Garrus to realize the skill it takes to keep the Mako under even the smallest semblance of control. He doesn’t really understand how it can climb a mountain but flip over a spirits-damned pebble. But what is a Mako but a big piece of tech? He’s fixed it enough to know how it works in theory. He can do this. Even if the controls were designed by and for humans.

A few hours in, and one small monkey-creature casualty later, Garrus has the basics down. He silently admits to himself he was wrong about Shepard’s driving skills. But that doesn't mean he can't do it better.

Shepard sees the determination on his face. She can’t see the harm in having multiple crew members that know how to handle the Mako, Alliance or otherwise. And, she can tell that the earlier tension and frustration about having to fix the Mako have evaporated. If Garrus knows how to fix it, he might as well know how to drive it. And she did always like a bit of competition.

He is doing pretty well but it seems as though Liara’s screams of terror are keeping his pride in check. And there’s a win. _She probably won’t be complaining about my driving again any time soon_. Shepard can feel that evil grin back on her face.

* * *

Every other planet or so, Shepard starts taking a back seat to Garrus. Starts adding in how to tweak the jets just before landing, how to assess the landscape at the horizon for paths instead of right ahead. Sometimes, she sees an especially tricky spot and deliberately gets the Mako stuck in it so she can hand it off to Garrus. That has become particularly entertaining, as she has discovered the added benefit of learning untranslatable Turian curses. At least, she assumes that’s what they are.

* * *

She’d handed the wheel over again on Xawin. Garrus had been making great strides. Shepard was certain he had surpassed other Alliance crew members in skill. Shepard was actually comfortable enough to relax and allow him to work with minimal direction or tips.

And then the ground shook. After Akuze, there was no mistaking that rumble.

“Circle! Drive around it, Garrus, now!”

No previous amount of relaxing while Garrus drove could assuage the fear behind not being in control of the Mako herself when the maw surfaced. It had been a long time since Shepard felt panic so close to the surface.

Garrus’s mandibles were clenched flat to his face, and she could just barely make out a high-pitched buzzing on the edge of her range of hearing. She had to force herself to fall into calm, for both their sake.

“I’ve got the cannon Vakarian. Don’t drive in the same area twice and avoid those larger pits. That’s likely trenches its come out of before. Keep a distance and we’ll wittle it down.” She could still hear the tension in her voice but it was better. Shepard began firing missiles as Garrus dodged the thresher maw.

The battle seemed endless.

The final rumble of the maw as it slumped and slid into the ground was perhaps the best sight Shepard had ever seen.

Garrus’s mandibles hung slack, as though broken from their previous tension.  _Hopefully that’s relief_.

“Well, shit, Vakarian. I think it’s safe to say you know how to drive a Mako now.”

His back straightens in pride and he gives a Turian grin. “Feel free to say that again in front of Liara, Shepard.”


	2. Who Comes With?

Shit. Wrex is _pissed_. Understandably so. Shepard can’t tell if he’ll stay on her side or not. She can’t really blame him, either. If her people were suffering under the same burden, the same disease, there’d be nothing that could stop her from seizing it. Humans have committed enough atrocities as it is. She has no plans on adding to the number.

Shepard had told Kirrahe that Wrex would be fine but, walking up to him on that beach, she’s not so sure. She knows Ash is waiting in the wings ready to take a shot. She just hopes it won’t come to that.

“This isn’t right, Shepard. If there’s a cure for the genophage, we can’t destroy it.”

Shepard can practically feel Wrex’s control slipping.

“I understand where you’re coming from Wrex, but we both know Saren’s the real enemy here.”

“Really? He created a cure for my people. You want to destroy it. Help me out here, Shepard. The line between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I’m standing.

Shepard thinks about one of their first conversations aboard the Normandy. She tried to compare the Relay 314 incident to the genophage. Looking back on it, it was an idiotic thing to say. Hopefully she could be more articulate this time.

“This isn’t a cure. It’s a weapon. And if Saren is around to use it you won’t be around to reap the benefit. None of us will.

“That’s a chance we should be willing to take. This is the fate if my entire people we’re talking about. I’ve been loyal to you so far. Hell, you’ve done more for me than my family ever did but, if I’m going to keep following you, I need to know we’re doing it for the right reasons.

Shepard doesn’t like arguing to destroy something so vital. It is a tall order to ask anyone to accept.

“Wrex, these Krogan are not your people. They’re slaves of Saren. Tools. Is that what you want for them?

With his face (and gun) in hers, Shepard wonders not for the first time what left those deep scars from his crest on down to his neck. She wonders if it’s from the battle with his father. If Wrex can’t trust his own father, how can he trust her? But, as his shotgun lowers, Shepard realizes just how far she and Wrex have come together.

“No. We were tools for the council once. To thank us for wiping out the Rachni they neutered us all. I doubt Saren will be as generous. All right Shepard. You’ve made your point. I don’t like this, but I trust you enough to follow your lead. Just one thing: when we find Saren, I want his head.

“Wrex, I wasn’t going to kill the last Rachni queen. I’m not going to pass up a cure unless there’s absolutely no other option. I want you to know that.

Shepard was planning on bringing Liara and Garrus into the base with her. She makes a split-second decision.

“I’m bringing you and Tali. If you see any of your people that can be brought around, we’ll extract them. And any computer we see, we’ll have Tali pull as much data out of them as we can. We need to move fast but with Tali’s hacking skills, I imagine she can get something valuable. Maybe whatever she gets can give your people a starting point. If there’s a cure in the research, it’s yours. Fair?

A nod and an acknowledgement as he holsters his shotgun. “Shepard.”


	3. Who Stays Behind?

You can't save everyone. War is like that. Sometimes you need to make a choice. And sometimes those choices are hard as hell.Shepard’s not making that choice, goddamnit. Not this time.

Shepard starts running back to the elevators with Tali and Wrex, cutting comms with Alenko and Williams, linking instead with the Normandy. “Joker, patch me through ship-wide.”

”Done commander.”

“This is Commander Shepard. You all know what’s at stake here. Some of our people are about to die down here. I’ve got to ensure that bomb goes off, so I’m leaving Gunnery Chief Williams pinned down at the AA tower. I’m not ordering. I’m asking. I need a volunteer. Someone to drop in the mako on the wall, pack it with our people and bug out. I don’t know if it’s do-able. I don’t know if you’ll make it. But I’d ask that one of you consider trying. If it happens, head west along the beach, the gates are already open that way. Shepard out.”

Shepard patches through to Joker alone. “Joker. Can you make the drop?”

Pressly must have joined Joker in the cockpit, as he is in on the comms as well, giving his input. “Commander. No one can do that drop. It’s impossible. You need at least a hundred meters of open terrain to pull it off. We don’t-“

“I can do it.”

“Joker?”

“I can do it commander.”

“I trust your judgment, Joker. Wait for a volunteer. Shepard out.”


	4. Which Cheek?

The Normandy rests in a small open field fifty miles out of Virmire. It’s as close to the blast zone as Shepard feels is safe.

She’d hoped for a volunteer. Practically begged for one. By now, she’s learned who took her up on it. Of course he would.

They can’t connect with the Mako. Understandable, given the likely radiation in the air. Shepard knows that the Mako can handle the radiation outside of the primary blast area. She asked Chakwas to prepare to treat for potential exposure anyway.

Assuming they made it.

She had reported to the council her findings and been disregarded. Again. She at least opted for the satisfaction of hanging up on them this time around. Diplomacy be damned. Udina can fix it. She has her crew to worry about.

She had Tali give Wrex the only copy of all the data she was able to pull from the base. She figures Wrex is resourceful enough to find someone that can do something with it if there’s anything of value.

She ought to be waiting in the ship. She can see further from the helm and the scans would alert her far sooner than her naked eye ever could. But the sound of the waves and the wind in her hair was calming. Waiting at the door, so to speak, is really all that remains for her to do for her missing people. Besides, Joker promised to warn her the second he sees something on the scanner.

Given the Council’s refusal to acknowledge Feros, Noveria, and now Virmire as well, Shepard was inclined to give the crew shore leave for a day or two while she planned her next move. One thing she knows, the ship’s stealth system is about to be put to the test.

The beep of her comm shakes Shepard from contemplation. It’s Joker. “Commander, movement on the edge of our sensors.”

Shepard’s heart leaps at the news. She can’t make it out yet as the sun has begun to set. She stands at attention facing the direction she anticipates the Mako will come from.

It soon comes into view. She can tell it has gone through hell. There appears to be a small fire in the back and the shields are flickering. But it’s running and it’s coming home.

The Mako stops just short of her and the Normandy. The hatches open with a hiss and the Salarian team begins unpacking from the tank. Shepard would never have guessed that many people could fit. She told Williams it’s hard not to have faith in foxholes. Thank God they all fit.

She imagines the human-centric Williams sitting crammed in the back with a Salarian on her lap and begins laughing uncontrollably. She starts shaking the hands of everyone within reach. Slaps on the back, grasping arms. Laughter. Shouting. All the sounds and acts of people who have lived to see another day. Shepard’s relieved face is mirrored on that of each being she greets.

Williams hops out, her swagger intact. They throw their arms around each other.

“Good to see you in one piece, chief.”

“Good to be in one piece, skipper.”

The last inhabitant exits the Mako and Shepard looks over her reckless and wonderful Turian crewman and makes an unconscious decision. She leaps at him, throwing her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his mandible. He lets out a surprised-sounding squawk but returns her hug. Through the knot in her throat, Shepard forces out a strangled “thank you.”

As she releases Garrus from her grasp, she hears Williams pipe up behind her, “thought you said that wouldn’t be necessary, Commander.” _Of course she’d remember._

“Yeah yeah. Laugh it up Williams. Next time I need a psychic I’ll give you a consult.” Shepard ignores the curious tilt of Garrus’s head.

The crew of the Normandy has piled out of the ship to greet the survivors. Shepard has to shout over the impromptu celebration: “Listen up people! Those of you on the Mako, check with the Doctor about radiation exposure and injuries. I want each one of you ok’d by her. I’m declaring 24 hours of shore leave so I can plan the next steps. We’re here on a beautiful beach. Enjoy it while you can but no wandering too far. You’ll get no sympathy from me if you get eaten by those crab things. We ship out this time tomorrow.”

As Liara makes her way close, Shepard recalls another old conversation. With a sideways glance at Garrus, Shepard says loudly; “Well, shit, Vakarian. I think it’s safe to say you know how to drive a Mako now.” She’s rewarded with a huffing laugh. Not even an hour ago she was worried she wouldn’t get to hear that laugh ever again.

With a final pat on Garrus’s shoulder, Shepard leaves her crew to enjoy the beach while they can. She has a feeling the following days will be ugly.


End file.
